Mentor Areas
The focus of the Cullen Lab’s research in neurotrauma is the application of engineering principles to better understand the causative mechanisms and pathophysiological responses following traumatic injury to the nervous system. Specific attention is given to neural injury biomechanics and mechanisms of acute biophysical cellular/tissue damage. In the arena of Neural Engineering, the objective is to develop neurotechnology to mitigate trauma-induced deficits or augment the body’s capacity for regeneration. Here, focus is given to neural tissue engineering strategies and the development of bio-hybridized technologies for long-term neurobiological-electrical interfaces.
Description:
Neural tissue engineering offers tremendous promise to combat the effects of disease, aging, or injury in the nervous system. The Cullen Lab is developing tissue-engineering strategies to directly replace damaged or diseased neural tissue, or to augment the capacity for nervous system regeneration and restore lost function. Our overall strategy is to engineer living three-dimensional (3-D) neural tissue that is “pre-engineered” outside the body with controlled neuroanatomical and functional characteristics, that upon delivery into the body will promote neuroregeneration or recreate lost neuroanatomy. One application being investigated is developing constructs of axonal tracts that, upon transplantation, may facilitate nervous system repair by directly restoring lost connections or by serving as a targeted scaffold to promote host regeneration by exploiting axon-mediated axonal regeneration.
Preferred Qualifications
We are looking for a flexible, reliable, self-motivated undergrad candidate with good organizational skills and attention to detail, ability to work independently and keep track of multiple responsibilities. Training will be provided for basic research activities.
Project Website
Learn more about the researcher and/or the project here. Cullen Lab
Details:
Preferred Student Year
First-year, Second-Year
Academic Term
Fall, Spring, Summer
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.